OK so this is not going to be your typical RR. It's not epic, it doesn't cover thousands of kilometers, doesn't star riding gods, awesome expensive bikes or pretty women (OK maybe later ). But it shows a bit of how I spend every day of my life with an awesome little Honda: the CTX200 Bushlander ag bike.

I'm going to write the "RR" over a period of time as and when I get the pix together. I'm not going to bore you guys with lots of writing (julle kyk mos net kiekies), instead I'll briefly colour in the detail shown in the pix.

First, a bit of background to set the scene: We recently moved our entire Boer Goat farming operation to the Eastern Cape from the North West Province. Now Boer Goats, as you may know, do really well in dry, arid and extensive areas. This often means farming areas where other livestock doesn't perform: rocky, mountainous, dry, difficult areas. This means we have to get to places a bakkie or tractor often cannot. While we do use horses, it is often faster to get there by bike. Quads don't work due to the rocky terrain and narrow paths.

I initially looked at a few options: Yamaha TW200, Suzuki DR200 and the Honda CTX200 Bushlander. The TW felt too small for me (I am over 6 feet and weigh 98kg), the Suzuki dealer in Potchefstroom was pathetic and I had had good experiences with Honda before. Besides, I have a few other Honda products that have given excellent service (waterpumps, firefighter, lawnmower).

I do around 150km per week with the bike, except in cases like last weekend when my one flock decided to go walkabout and I did 53km on Saturday looking for them. It's times like that that the Bushlander comes into it own; it gets places much faster than the Cruiser, uses much less fuel and with less wear and tear. Of course it cannot carry the load a bakkie can but then it's horses for courses.

Checking the fencing teams ...

...the fences themselves ...

...the lucerne irrigation status ...

... and the river level

Winter is always fun. On the previous farm temps of -10ºC on winter mornings in July and August were not unusual and here I have recorded -6ºC with sleet and wind. Unfortunately the Bushlander doesn't have heated grips, not even as a factory option.

My neighbours tell me farmers in the area do a "farm bike rally" each year. The TW, DRs and other Ag bikes get to do a route visiting farms and friends along a route to view farming practices, new ideas and equipment and so on. Pretty much a mobile farmers' day. Sounds like a lot of fun and I'll be posting some pix of that trip on this RR.